5 6 W. A. SANDS 



right mandible with apical and first marginal subequal as left, first marginal with small subsidiary 

 tooth near basal junction with apical, relative lengths of cutting edge of first and second 

 marginals variable ; right molar plate in surface view with very weak to strong indentation near 

 basal end of anterior margin, posterior margin extending in rounded flange, first molar ridge 

 forming stout tooth, remaining 7-9 ridges diminishing towards base (Text-figs. 169-180). 

 Fontanelle slit-like, distinctly bifurcate anteriorly, usually paler than head. 



Soldier. Mono- or dimorphic. Nose cylindrical or conical. Vestigial mandibles with small 

 to medium-sized points. Head capsule scarcely to sharply constricted behind antennae, 

 posterior lobe commonly more than one-fourth wider than anterior. Antennae 12-13 segmented. 



This genus was separated by Coaton (1962) from Coarctotermes on the basis of the 

 notched cutting edge in front of the third marginal tooth of the left imago mandible. 

 It contains four species, contractus (Sjostedt), coatoni sp. n., mallyi (Fuller) and 

 tenebricus (Silvestri) . 



This character is convenient for separating Fulleritermes from Coarctotermes and 

 Rhadinotermes , but it is shared by two other African constricted-headed genera, 

 Grallatotermes and Leptomyxotermes ; however both these have much larger eyes 

 and ocelli in the imago, and in Grallatotermes the right molar plate has many ridges. 



Within Fulleritermes itself there are specific differences. In F. mallyi the left third 

 marginal tooth of the imago is asymmetrical, the anterior edge being longer than the 

 posterior and slightly concave, and the right molar plate scarcely indented in outline. 

 In the other species the left third marginal is equilaterally triangular and the right 

 molar plate deeply indented in outline, with fewer ridges. The soldier caste of 

 F. mallyi is also distinct in shape and colour from the other species which closely 

 resemble each other. 



I do not consider it desirable to separate F. mallyi generically from the other species 

 at present because further work is required to evaluate fully the importance of these 

 rather small differences in imago mandible characteristics. 



The genus occurs in the savannah and other drier open vegetation zones, and only 

 occasionally enters the forest edges, being absent from the depths of true rain forest. 

 Of the four species recognized in this paper, one occurs north of the Congo forest 

 block, one to the south, one in tropical South Africa, (Transvaal, Natal, northern 

 Cape Province) and the last in the Montane and Karroo vegetation of temperate and 

 subtropical South Africa. There is apparently no overlap in their distribution, each 

 exploiting a separate and distinct vegetation type or set of types. The genus appears 

 to occupy a subsidiary or minor ecological " niche " in the termite fauna of these 

 areas, being never found abundantly and usually scarce and difficult to discover. It 

 may however be close to the evolutionary stem from which more abundant specialized 

 genera such as Trinervitermes arose. It is absent from East Africa, where Rhadino- 

 termes is found, but it is thought that R. coarctatus occupies a rather different 

 ecological " niche " because of the differences in its imago and worker mandibles. 



Keys to FULLERITERMES and RHADINOTERMES 

 Imago {FULLERITERMES only) 

 1 Antennae 14 segmented, though with segment III long, sometimes partly subdivided. 



Wings under 10mm. in length ......... 2 



- Antennae 15 segmented. Wings over 10mm. in length . . . mallyi (p. 65) 



